Young Tigers come through vs. Grandview

EPHRATA - The Ephrata Tigers capped the home portion of their Central Washington Athletic Conference dual meet schedule on Tuesday, sending their five seniors out in style with a 47-23 win over the Grandview Greyhounds.

Like many Columbia Basin wrestling program, the Tigers are used to a high level of success. Last year's 16th-place finish at state was a bit of a downer for a program that had placed in the top 10 each of the previous three season, and the 2008 Tigers are trying to return to that level of the stratosphere.

First-year head coach P.J. Anderson has a very young squad overall, however, as evidenced by the eight freshmen and sophomores who started against Grandview. But wins like Tuesday's have Anderson believing this group is capable of something special in the near future.

"They've gotten a ton better - I'm getting more excited about them as the year goes on," Anderson said of his youngsters. "You always see talent, and sometimes that can be a four-letter word. It doesn't always turn into anything, but they've matched it with hard work.

"None of them think of themselves as freshmen anymore," he added. "They're all varsity athletes and they're all fighting for when the postseason comes around."

Deion Ducksworth, a freshman 215-pounder, is a prime example of the raw talent the Tigers possess. Ducksworth entered the high school season with heavy expectations earned through an outstanding freestyle campaign with his club team, but that didn't translate at first.

"He came out a little bit overwhelmed the first few weeks of competition," Anderson said of Ducksworth. "Now he's just brawling with the big guys. He's only a freshman, but he's out there brawling with juniors and seniors."

Ducksworth won the second-to-last match Tuesday evening, breaking free from a second-period with an escape and a takedown to beat Adam Morales 6-3.

Some of the Tigers' other youngsters struggled though. Freshman Jason Finke (103) was pinned in 17 seconds by Sergio Tinta to start the meet. Preston Hendrickson (130) fell behind early with a takedown and near fall, eventually losing 10-3 to Viano Perez. Freshman Curtis Treiber (189) was pinned by Keagan Christensen at the 58-second mark.

But then, there were showings like the one from 112-pounder Anthony Bush, who scored a 22-second pin of Omar Verduzco. Sophomore Robert Motzkus brutalized Jose Garza at 171, leading 10-2 after one period before notching an 18-2 technical fall at the end of the second.

Of the Tigers' five seniors, only Brenton Beard and Anthony Johnson actually took the mat. Ryan Cross (152) got a forfeit in his final home match, while Brandon Butcher, Brady Beard and Steve Mortimer sat the bench in favor of younger athletes.

"Our main goal tonight was to come out with them and actually dictate the pace of the match," Anderson said. "They did that tonight. We're starting to come around."

Brenton Beard moved up from his usual spot at 119 to beat Spencer Blanshan at 125. Beard dominated, leading 6-2 after one period, 12-2 after two, then polishing off the pin at 5:19.

Johnson (285) wrestled the evening's final match, and ended it in poetic fashion midway through the second period. He led a ho-hum 1-0 match with Edward Acosta, then used a quick move to floor Acosta and get the pin at 3:50.

Ephrata's Oscar Matus (119) won by forfeit, while sophomore Kurt Nygard (135) picked up an 8-4 win over Garrett Walker. Tyson Hubbard (140) went up 7-2 on Eddie Galindo before earning the pin at 3:16.

Quinton Hendrickson (145) fell behind 7-0 early against Dalton Walker and lost 9-2. Chris Davidson (160) also fell into an early trap and fell 10-3 to Greg Gonzalez.

Ephrata travels to Wapato on Thursday at 7 p.m. for its final conference dual, then readies itself for district tournament action. The combined regional tournament with the Great Northern League means five wrestlers from each weight move on to Mat Classic XX at the Tacoma Dome.

Anderson doesn't want his kids getting too far ahead of themselves, however.

"To be honest, I'll start worry about state here in about three weeks," he said. "We're going to take it one week at a time and get them ready."